Long Island Region, December 2011

Business Expansions and Contractions, LI Region, December 2011

Business Expansions

Company

County

# Jobs

Article Date

Comments

Hilton Homewood Suites Hotel

Nassau

139

12-01-2011

Hilton Homewood Suites broke ground on a new hotel in Westbury (Nassau County), scheduled to open in 15 months. Homewood Suites is receiving $500,000 in aid from Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) in the form of sales tax exemptions on equipment and furnishings, $180,000 off mortgage recording tax and a PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) agreement for 20 years. The project is slated to create 70 construction jobs and 39 permanent jobs. (Newsday, December 1, 2011)

AccuVein Inc.

Suffolk

12-08-2011

AccuVein Inc., a company that produces an infrared medical device that illuminates patients' blood vessels, plans to add employees in sales and product development. The company currently employs more than 50, up just from 15 two years ago. (Newsday, December 8, 2011)

City of Glen Cove

Nassau

101

12-14-2011

The Glen Cove city council voted 6-0 to approve a memorandum of agreement between the city and the Civil Service Employees Association, granting 10 percent raises over five years for the 101 civil service union employees in public works, finance and other city departments. The agreement, in advance of a new contract expected early next year, will cost about $1.3 million over five years. The CSEA members, who have worked without a contract for almost two years, also will receive vision benefits and upgraded dental insurance. The agreement is retroactive, covering union workers from Jan. 1, 2010, until Dec. 31, 2014. (newsday.com, December 14, 2011)

Hauppauge (Suffolk County)-based defense contractor Globecomm Systems Inc. received an $8.8 million contract to provide a communications system to NATO. (Newsday, December 21, 2011)

LI Regional Economic Development Council

Nassau and Suffolk

12-08-2011

Long Island was named one of the four "Best Plan Awardees" by New York State, receiving $101.6 million in state funding. This will include $40 million for the implementation of the Regional Economic Council’s strategic plan and $61.6 million for individual projects submitted through the state’s new consolidated funding application. Of the $40 million, $25 million will be cash dedicated to the transformative projects listed in the strategic plan, while $15 million will go to businesses looking to expand as Excelsior tax credits. Overall, 66 Long Island projects will split the $101.6 million. (Long Island Business News, December 8, 2011)

Stony Brook University

Suffolk

200(Est.)

12-08-2011

Stony Brook University received a grant of $150 million -- the largest gift in the history of the SUNY system -- from the Simons Foundation, a private charity created by the founder of hedge fund Renaissance Technologies Jim Simons and his wife Marilyn. The money will go towards building a cancer research center, adding 245 new faculty and 400 staff, and enrolling an additional 1,500 students. Another part of the center’s funding will come from a $35 million grant from the state’s SUNY 2020 initiative, which, in turn is paid for in part through a multiple-year tuition hike that increases tuition at SUNY campuses 30 percent over five years, from $4,970 to $6,470. University officials touted the plan's potential to help students, improve local medical options and boost the economy. (Long Island Business News, December 8, 2011)

Town of Islip

Suffolk

12-01-2011

Islip (Suffolk County) town officials are considering a policy -- akin to ones in Huntington, Brookhaven, Oyster Bay and Long Beach -- that would force substantial development projects to use contractors with NYS-registered apprenticeship programs. The proposal, brought by Councilman Gene Parrington who also works for Local 25 IBEW, would require all permit applications for construction of a commercial building of at least 100,000 square feet to provide evidence the contractors or subcontractors participate in an approved state labor department apprenticeship training program. Islip Supervisor-elect Tom Croci described the proposal as "a major policy shift" for the Town, one that would affect economic development and job creation. Of more than 700 registered apprenticeship programs statewide, 90 percent are provided by companies, not unions, he said. (newsday.com, December 1, 2011)

Wangs Alliance Corp. (WAC's Lighting Co)

Nassau

228(Est.)

12-07-2011

Wangs Alliance Corp. (aka WAC Lighting),a manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting, is moving its Garden City headquarters to a Port Washington (both in Nassau County) site owned by Luxottica Group, where the company’s research unit will be housed. WAC will receive $13 million from the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency to expand and stay on Long Island. The company has 65 employees in Nassau and expects to hire 228 workers because of the high demand for energy saving lights. Fifty of the new hires will be engineers working on new products. (Newsday, December 7, 2011)

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Business Contractions

Company

County

# Jobs

Article Date

Comments

Diocese of Rockville Centre

Nassau

150(Est.)

12-06-2011

Six Roman Catholic grammar schools on Long Island will close next June because of declining enrollment, the Diocese of Rockville Centre said Tuesday. The schools shutting their doors in Nassau are: St. John Baptist De LaSalle Regional School in Farmingdale, St. Catherine of Sienna School in Franklin Square, St. Ignatius Loyola School in Hicksville and Sacred Heart School in North Merrick. In Suffolk, Prince of Peace Regional School in Sayville and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Lindenhurst will close. The schools in Suffolk instructed to work collaboratively to stay open in the long term are St. Isidore School in Riverhead, Our Lady of Mercy Regional School in Cutchogue, and Our Lady Queen of Apostles Regional School in Center Moriches. In Nassau, St. Dominic School in Oyster Bay and St. Edward the Confessor School in Syosset are under a similar mandate. (newsday.com, December 6, 2011)

Nassau County

Nassau

399

12-29-2011

On December 29 Nassau County issued 262 pink slips to employees in almost 40 departments and demoted another 137. About 100 workers are estimated to have retired voluntarily in exchange for a buyout which paid them $1,000 per year of service. In addition, 153 vacant full-time positions were eliminated and another 43 part-time vacant spots will go unfilled. County Executive Ed Mangano cited the need to close a projected $310 million budget gap next year as the reason for the layoffs and for privatizing various county services. Mangano has threatened another round of layoffs in February if the unions sue to block furloughs that are planned for next year. (lipress.com, December 29, 2011)

Quantronix Corp./GSI Group Inc.

Suffolk

58

12-16-2011

East Setauket (Suffolk County) laser equipement manufacturere GSI Group Inc./Quantronix Corp. will close down by June 1, 2012. The 58 employees will lose their jobs in phases starting in March 2012. (WARN, December 16, 2011)

St. Francis Hospital

Nassau

58

12-06-2011

St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn (Nassau County) has laid off 58 full-time workers in areas ranging from administration to nursing, a decision that officials said was designed to balance the hospital's budget. Some of the workers were long-term employees and others were the least senior in their positions. The affected workers were not represented by a union. Before the staff reduction, the hospital employed about 3,000. (Newsday, December 6, 2011)